Category: craft

I am not a morning person, in fact, I haven’t been a morning person since I was a very small child. However, I might be starting to appreciate the benefits of early rising.

Steven has been working on the other side of London this week, which means that he has been leaving pretty early. I’ve been getting up and having some coffee with him before he goes but he left so early this morning that even he didn’t want to get up a bit earlier to have time to have breakfast. However, rather than going back to sleep when he left, I decided I would just get up. I’m studying at home today (exam on Monday!) so I don’t need to go out at all. Instead, I’ve spent the past two hours curled up on the sofa under a hand-knit blanket with my coffee finishing off my latest cafetière cosy.

I’m not becoming obsessed, honest! I had knitted an altered version of my last cosy design to fit the cafetière that we actually use and decided that I just didn’t like it when it was finished. It was too bulky and then when I blocked it it grew so much that it just fell straight off. So I picked different yarn, different needles and started with a new design feature. Rather than the slightly rustic garter stitch in aran weight tweed yarn of the first one, this one is knitted in DK weight with some subtle stocking stitch stripes to break up the garter stitch. This created a really nice fabric, so nice that while I was still knitting it Steven asked what it was going to be since it looked so good. Bearing in mind that I managed to knit an entire pair of surprise fingerless gloves in front of him without him noticing, this is high praise indeed.

All that I had left to do this morning was sew on the buttons and add some button loops. One of the things I didn’t like about the last cosy was there was a bit of bulk where the fabric overlapped when buttoned so I deliberately designed this one not to overlap at all. I love how the button loops worked out.

These were done following a tutorial from My Fashionable Life, which I first used when I knitted some Saartje’s booties a couple of years ago. (A recent email from the receiving baby’s mum revealed that these booties are now in use by baby’s little brother!)

So, the cosy is finished, photographed (even though the light was appalling) and blogged and it’s still only 9:30. Sounds like time for me to start studying!

My Double Vision blanket, that is. Last time we saw it, it looked like this:

As of this morning, it now looks like this:

That is a whole 10% more completed, leaving just 40% to go.

I had written a whole paragraph here explaining all the reasons why I wasn’t enjoying knitting this but I’m pretty sure no one wants to listen to me moan.

I am determined to finish this blanket before the end of the year. I’ve already invested a reasonable amount of time and money in this project and I really want to be able to hang it on the wall. Also, according to my Ravelry notes, I cast on for this in January 2008; I really don’t want it to take more than two years!

..what it wants to be.

Some years ago, when they were fashionable, I knitted myself a poncho. I wore it quite a lot at the time but haven’t worn it in a while so decided to reclaim the yarn and knit something that would get more use.

I searched around for clothing patterns but didn’t have enough yarn to knit any of the jumpers that I liked and also wasn’t sure about wearing something knit from chunky yarn; I really don’t need any extra bulk! I had similar problems with the shawl patterns that I looked at.

Meanwhile, there was a little voice at the back of my head saying things like, “What about a blanket? You quite liked the idea of a grown-up version of the teddy bear baby blanket.” For some reason, I was determined not to listen to the little voice though and, even having decided that I was going to make a blanket, I tried swatching for all sorts of other types of blankets; cables, lace, you name it, I tried it.

The little voice was becoming more insistent the more swatches that I ripped out: “What about the alternating stocking and reverse stocking squares? You really liked those.”

And, eventually, I succumbed and so was born the Sophisticated Squares blanket:

This is a really basic knit – alternating squares of stocking and reverse stocking stitch surrounded by a seed stitch border. The chunky yarn means that it is knitting up very, very quickly, even more quickly than the teddy bear baby blanket. And, most importantly of all, I love it. I plan to block it quite severely when it’s finished which means it should be a reasonable size and drape really nicely. I can’t wait!

This week my knitting has been all about instant gratification, which means I have two new finished projects to show.

I hid a pair of fingerless gloves  in Steven’s suitcase as an extra birthday present since he wasn’t at home for his birthday. These are another pair of Koigu Wristers, knitted in left over Cygnet Truly Wool Rich 4-ply.

Every time I knit this pattern, I modify it slightly but it is a good basic pattern. I just need to remember next time that they don’t magically knit themselves and while they are a quick knit, they are not instantaneous. This means that if I want to knit them as a gift, casting on more than 2 days before the deadline would be a good idea, particularly if the person they’re being knitted for lives with me!

I also knitted another version of my cafetière cosy since we broke the cafetière that the first one was knitted for and bought a different-sized replacement. 

The more I look at the photos, the less satisfied I am with this though. I think I want to re-knit it so that it covers the section above the handle and doesn’t come down quite as far at the bottom.

I have written up the pattern for the first version (shown below) so I might just go ahead and publish that. I was waiting until I had written up this version but since it’s going to be a completely different shape, I think it’s probably better to publish them separately.

Speaking of publishing, there has been one other instant gratification project designed and knitted over the last couple of weeks but I’ve decided that I’m going to brave my fear of rejection and submit it for publishing. Unfortunately, that means I’m not allowed to say anything more about it but you should be hearing more one way or the other by the end of the year!

The weather has taken a turn towards Autumn around here this week and my knitting appears to be following suit.

My oldest friend is expecting a baby this November and since the bump’s grandmother and great-grandmother have already started on piles of shawls and jumpers, I thought I’d make a blanket.

The pattern is the Teddy Bear Baby Blanket and is free from Crystal Palace Yarns. The squares are clever combinations of stocking stitch and reverse stocking stitch to form the bears and the seed stitch border is perfect for pulling the whole thing together and stopping it curling.

It’s knitted with two strands of DK yarn held together which means that it is also a very quick knit. I cast this on over the weekend and am already two-thirds of the way through. I guess I’ll have plenty of time to knit something else for the baby before it arrives!

I also hereby declare my intention to finish my Double Vision blanket before the end of the year.

It is half complete and the strips get shorter and easier from here on in. Also, exam season is approaching rather quickly and I’m feeling the need of some relaxing brainless knitting. All I need to do is find where I “tidied” all the unused yarn to.

(For the record: I don’t really like puns but sometimes they get stuck in my head, particularly for blog titles, and I just have to let them out.)

I have two finished shawls to show off today. The first is the River that I knitted for my grandmother, being admirably modelled here by my wardrobe. I finished knitting this back in June (in time for her birthday) but was terrified of blocking the Kidsilk Haze so put off doing it until this weekend. In the end, I blocked it the same way I block everything else (soak in cold water and then pin out on towels) and it was fine. This really is a gorgeous shawl when it is finished and blocked and it was hard to part with. I have enough yarn to knit another one for me but the pattern is quite boring to knit and I don’t really like Kidsilk Haze so it might be a while before I get around to it.

I got a phone call from my Gran last night to say that the shawl had arrived and was “really lovely” so that made it all worthwhile!

 The other shawl is my finished Adamas, which was finished and blocked in record time because I was so keen to wear it. It was knitted using the Knit Picks Gloss Lace that I brought back from Hawaii. It turns out that this is a fantastic everyday laceweight yarn. It is 70% merino wool and 30% silk and I was a little disappointed that it wasn’t softer/silkier to the touch when knitting. However, it’s nice and soft to wear and unlike my silk lace shawls feels like it will stand up to some heavy wearing. (Ignore my strange wind-swept fringe in the photograph, I need to get my hair cut.)

This is my first triangular shawl and has completely cured me of my fear of looking like a little old lady when wearing them. I foresee many, many more in my future.

A: The Bell Curve skirt that I’m knitting.

I love the pattern, I’m even liking the way the Sirdar Just Soy yarn is knitting up (which I was worried I wouldn’t), I just wish it was done already.

When you get right down to it, it’s acres of stocking stitch in the round in beige yarn with the only excitement being the star stitches every fifth row. (Just between you and me, I don’t even think they look like stars; they’re pretty and I like them but I don’t think they look like stars; shells, maybe.)

Fortunately for my sanity, my other active project at the moment is another Celestine. It’s quick and interesting and definitely not beige! At the moment it reminds me of some of the orchids that we saw on Hawai’i.